The class is excellent. It demonstrates how to draw both people and animal characters. Lynne is very enthusiastic and I wanted to draw animal characters right away.

First shot at drawing animal characters

Some of my many reindeer sketches for Rudolph in the mince pie cookies recipe

I wanted to draw a seasonal recipe for Christmas and I chose a Mince Pie Cookies recipe. Drawing a reindeer character was tricky. I made lots of pencil sketches before I had a version of Rudolph I was happy with. I didn’t manage to complete the recipe before Christmas. Come January, I abandoned Rudolph and started on a different seasonal recipe.

Brioche des rois illustration – notice the sneaky hen at the top!

Brioche des Rois is popular for Epiphany and I couldn’t drawing (and baking) the recipe. I hadn’t planned on any animal characters in this but a chicken crept in. Encouraged by the result I went back to my reindeer illustration and finished it.

My completed illustration for mince pie cookies!

A family of rabbits

Keen too keep drawing animal characters, I drew a vegetarian lasagne recipe cooked by a family of rabbits!

Some of my rabbit character sketches – you can see how the characters evolved as I kept on sketching. I first drew a hedgehog but changed my mind.The completed Vegetable Lasagna illustrated recipe with my rabbit characters

What I learned about drawing animal characters

Drawing animal characters isn’t hard. It takes practice though. Here are a five points that helped me get started. They might help you too!

Look at pictures of the animals. It will help you find distinctive features (i.e. long ears, whiskers. Nose and feet shapes are important too). Make a sketch or two if you like.

Start simple. Two circles for the head and body and a basic snowman shape is all you need. Once you have the basic shape, build the features you singled out in your research.

Use the eyebrows and mouth shapes to express feelings and mood. The facial expressions will help you tell the story.

Use accessories to bring you characters to life. Notice the neckerchief on the reindeer and the bow and clothing on the rabbits.

Sophie Peanut is a sketch artist and illustrator based in Halifax UK. She works in pen and watercolour. Sophie loves urban sketching, drawing people and landscapes and likes to illustrate recipes. She also teaches drawing and painting online.

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About Sophie Peanut

Hi, I am Sophie. I am an artist and illustrator and live in Halifax in the UK. I draw and paint with watercolours, pens and pencils. I carry a sketchbook with me at most times. I use it to sketch my life and the world around me. I like illustrating my favourite family recipes too!